A SPECIAL BAPTISM

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to Me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:9-11

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:21-22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Our last four devotions have all centered on John the Baptist and how he first got the people thinking about repentance and baptism before announcing that he was only paving the way for Jesus to come and bring a baptism unlike any that the people has ever seen before, a unique baptism by way of the Holy Spirit instead of water.

But as we see in today’s devotion, before that Holy Spirit baptizing could take place, Jesus first had to be baptized Himself, and what a special baptism it was. Look again at our scripture passages for today:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to Me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3:13-17

At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”  Mark 1:9-11

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”  Luke 3:21-22

We know that Jesus had settled down with his parents in Nazareth in Galilee where he grew up into adulthood. At God’s appointed time, Jesus started His ministry by traveling to the Jordan River where John was hard at work teaching and leading people to repent of their sins. John knew Jesus as the One he had been touting and we sense he fully expected Jesus was coming to take over his baptizing duties. After all, John did say that he didn’t even feel worthy enough to untie Jesus’ sandals (Luke 3:16).

With this, what a shock it had to be when Jesus told John to baptize Him! We read where John tried to decline the offer, not out of disobedience as much as out of respect for Jesus and who He was. John fully believed in his heart of hearts that if anybody was going to baptize, it should be Jesus baptizing him.

But note the words of Jesus in response to John’s rebuttal:

“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

Looking at this same verse in a couple other translations, we get a better sense of what Jesus was getting at:

“For now this is how it should be, because we must do all that God wants us to do.” (CEV)

“It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” (NLT)

“Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” (GNT)

“Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” (The Message)

With all this, it was God’s will for Jesus to be baptized. The Father required it to happen and Jesus, the ever obedient Son, was going to comply. He couldn’t baptize Himself and so enter John who was given the honor. And understanding why the baptism had to happen, because it would fulfill God’s desire, the scriptures tell us that John consented.

To all who were gathered, it had to look like a normal baptism on the surface as Jesus went with John into the Jordan and John plunged Him under the water before bringing Him back up. But then something amazing happened, something that set this baptism apart as one for the ages.

For as Jesus came up out of the water and prayed, the heavens opened up and a dove descended upon Him, the Holy Spirit being sent from God the Father. And with the Holy Spirit alighting on His Son, God then spoke these words of approval and favor (I will put each of the Gospel accounts against one another):

“This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” (Matthew)

“You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.” (Mark)

“You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.” (Luke)

No matter the description of what happened from three different sources, we find God proclaiming three critical things about Jesus, things that will be important as He begins His adult ministry.

First, God wanted all to know that Jesus was indeed His Son. No one else would be able to claim that in truth and no one else would carry the amazing, holy, and divine DNA of the Father as Jesus would.

Second, God wanted everyone to know that He loved His Son and as His ministry would advance, that love of the Father would be fully extended by Jesus to others.

Finally, God wanted all to know that He favored His Son, that He was pleased with Jesus. And that would never change as Jesus would go on to fulfill all that His Father called Him to do, even laying His life down for sinful mankind, perishing so they might not have to.

And so it was. Jesus’ arrival was all it was billed to be as He was not only baptized but endorsed by God Himself, in not just one but three different ways. In tomorrow’s devotion, we’ll find Jesus quickly ushered into an encounter with Satan and temptation as we begin to learn right away from His life and the way He handled adversity.

See you then.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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